Duplin and Sampson Counties, NC
Climate and environment | 2025
Mapping environmental injustices and public health risks from concentrated animal feeding operations.
Swine and poultry concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) constitute significant public health risks by causing waste contamination in air and water, which is exacerbated by flooding from climate change. North Carolina counties with the highest per capita swine production have a high proportion of residents who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). There is also a growing and unregulated biogas industry that collects methane from the waste pits of swine CAFOs. However, a lack of data on the locations of biogas collection, poultry CAFOs, and avian influenza outbreaks prevents affected communities from making decisions to protect their own health and safety. To address this data gap, the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network will engage in participatory mapping in partnership with residents of the southeastern North Carolina counties of Duplin and Sampson as well as poultry processing plant workers to create a dataset that can be used to support community and worker advocacy.
Participatory mapping sessions will be co-organized with the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network by leaders from community organizations and Latine worker advocacy groups, including Rural Empowerment Association for Community Help in Duplin County, the Environmental Justice Community Action Network in Sampson County, and NC FIELD, which works with Latine farmworkers. During these mapping events, residents and workers will pinpoint locations of biogas infrastructure, poultry CAFOs, and avian influenza outbreaks and share their environmental and health concerns regarding these operations. Volunteers will digitize and categorize the information in real time so that participants can discuss and identify advocacy and research goals.
The goal of the project is to produce a community- and worker-derived advocacy and action agenda informed by data. Potential action items include canvassing near facilities, requesting that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services provide personal protective equipment, and asking that the North Carolina Department of Agriculture increase transparency on poultry CAFOs. With this project’s data, advocates and communities will gain much-needed information about the most important locations for monitoring air and water quality.